Kindle gets page numbers, bookworms rejoice

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Kindle-owners generally have something to complain about, but one of the biggest qualms has always been that the ebook reader is void of page numbers. Until now, that is.

News that is likely to rock bookworms' worlds around the globe, Amazon has confirmed that those happy to download the latest software preview for the Kindle will now be able to see how many pages they’ve read. Amazing.

“Our customers have told us they want real page numbers that match the page numbers in print books so they can easily reference and cite passages, and read alongside others in a book club or class,” says Amazon. “Rather than add page numbers that don’t correspond to print books, which is how page numbers have been added to e-books in the past, we’re adding real page numbers that correspond directly to a book’s print edition.”

Of course, there is more than just page numbers that are being added to the latest software release, Amazon is adding a swathe of other features too.

One will be the addition of public notes, letting Kindle users choose to make their book notes and highlights available for others to see. A “Before You Go…” feature lets you immediately rate the book, share a message about it with your social network, get personalised recommendations for what to read next, and see more titles by the same author and new “Newspaper and Magazine Layout” options for, naturally, newspapers and magazines.

Latest generation Kindle and Kindle 3G customers who want to try an early preview of these new features can manually download the software or just wait for Amazon to push out the latest update in the near future.